ASEAN parliamentarians to Duterte admin: Stop red-tagging opposition solons

Southeast Asian parliamentarians advocating for human rights have called on the Duterte administration to immediately stop its "vicious and dangerous" red-tagging campaign against opposition lawmakers in the Philippines.

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) made the call amid Duterte and other government officials' continued association of the House Makabayan Bloc with communist rebels even as the concerned lawmakers themselves have already denied links to the insurgents.

“Red-tagging has had extremely violent consequences in the Philippines, and the fact we are seeing President Duterte leading the way on such a menacing practice is utterly inexcusable,” said Charles Santiago, a Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP) and chair of APHR.

“Let’s be clear: not only do the president’s actions attempt to silence political opposition and undermine democracy, but they also directly put people’s lives at risk, particularly those who oppose his agenda," he added.

In response, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the view was expressed by a “very small" number of ASEAN parliamentarians.

“That’s part of their freedom of expression which probably they don’t even have in their own respective states. We leave it at that,” Roque said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Red-tagging

The APHR noted that in the Philippines, "red-tagging" is being used by authorities to harass those perceived as threats to the country by linking them with communists or communist sympathizers, and those that have been labeled as such have either been attacked or killed.

Only recently, Duterte himself even took a step further and "definitely" named the Makabayan bloc and other progressive groups like Bayan and Gabriela as fronts for the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

He also claimed that these progressive groups are part of a "grand conspiracy" led by the CPP to oust the government.

“How can lawmakers be expected to fulfil their role as a check on the executive when they themselves are being attacked?" Santiago said.

"We urgently call on President Duterte and the Philippine government to stop labelling directly-elected representatives as terrorists, and allow opposition lawmakers to effectively fulfil their mandates and freely express their opinions,” he added.

The APHR said Duterte's latest comments are part of his administration's widespread assault on democracy and human rights in the Philippines as they took note of the war on drugs, the jailing of government critics including APHR member Senator Leila De Lima, and the introduction of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

“We call on MPs in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia to use their positions to speak up against the practice of ‘red tagging’ in the Philippines, particularly by government officials towards political opponents, and ensure that their colleagues can effectively fulfil their mandates as elected representatives of the people,” said Mu Sochua, an APHR Board Member and former Cambodian MP. — with Virgil Lopez/KBK/RSJ, GMA News